Fired medical board employees to file wrongful termination claims

PHOENIX -- A half-dozen employees of the Arizona Medical Board who lost their jobs plan to file a notice of claims for wrongful termination.

The group plans to formally announce the action Tuesday afternoon, according to lawyers representing the group. A claim generally precedes a lawsuit.

Former board officials Lisa Wynn and Amanda Diehl were also named in the claim. Wynn was executive director and was fired last month, shortly after an independent report said that claims the board took shortcuts in licensing doctors were valid. Diehl was deputy director.

The fired employees said they had each told the board of concerns that new policies and procedures that went into effect in the fall of 2011 were illegal.

Wynn has denied purposefully breaking the law.

The board will be the subject of a special joint meeting of the Arizona Legislature of the House Committee on Health and the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday morning.